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The CAGP Gender Strategy

How can gender be integrated into program management processes and procedures? How can gender be seriously considered by policy makers undertaking fiscal and other governance reforms? These are just a few of the many questions that faced the partners to the China Australia Governance Program (CAGP) when developing a gender strategy for this major AusAID-funded initiative.

The CAGP Gender Strategy builds on complementary Australian and Chinese Government policies. AusAID’s Gender and Development Policy aims to ensure that women and men participate in and benefit equally from development. This perspective accords with the commitments of the Government of China as outlined in the Gender Equality and Women’s Development in China, White Paper (2005), and its goal of building a new socialist countryside and a harmonious and all-round Xiaokang (well-off) society.  In support of these policies the CAGP Gender Strategy takes a proactive and pragmatic approach. 

Developing the CAGP Gender Strategy.  Responsibility for implementing a gender mainstreaming policy across all levels and activities of a governance program requires the ongoing commitment by all actors including CAGP Partners - AusAID, HAI, the Ministry of Commerce, and the National Development Reform Commission (NDRC) - activity designers and implementers, and especially Program counterpart implementing agencies.  This commitment was confirmed at the outset through the endorsement by program Partners of the CAGP Gender Strategy, which was developed “in-house” by staff from the four partner  organisations. The Strategy is based on four main principles: participation; capacity building; partnership; and gender mainstreaming.   

Gender Mainstreaming. Central to CAGP’s gender mainstreaming approach is the inclusion of a Chinese national Gender Advisor as one of the core members of the Advisory and Quality Assurance Group (AQAG). In addition to taking part in the Annual AQAG Review of CAGP, the Gender Advisor also participates in CAGP seminars, coordinates gender training activities, and undertakes an annual review of the Strategy. When specialist knowledge of the gender dimensions of a particular area is required, other gender advisors are engaged to provide analytical input at various stages of the Program cycle - from identification, design and appraisal to implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.

Capacity Building. Ongoing capacity building of Program and counterpart staff is crucial to the successful implementation of the Strategy.  To date the CAGP has provided gender awareness training to program staff from the four Partner organisations focusing on gender and governance, gender analysis in the policy cycle, and an examination of the poverty framework form a gender perspective.  An important outcome of the training for CAGP has been: the development of a Gender Action Plan; and the identification of gender ‘focal points’ with Terms of Reference.  The gender focal points comprise of CAGP Partners and PMO representatives who help drive the continued commitment to the Strategy to effectively mainstream and integrate gender into every step of the Program cycle.

Ongoing Commitment of Counterpart Agencies.  Fundamental to the Gender Strategy is the premise that it is not possible to address gender inequality in China without the commitment and support of key counterpart staff from the Chinese government, who are responsible for implementing CAGP activities.  Hence on 10 October 2006, CAGP provided a one-day gender training for senior leaders from 18 Chinese government offices including: the China Centre for Leadership Assessment; NDRC Income Distribution Department; the Research Institute of Fiscal Science under Ministry of Finance; the Economics Research Institute under NDRC; and the Chinese Central Party School.   

The aim of the gender training was to raise awareness of the need for gender analysis in policy formulation and the importance of the collection of sex-disaggregated data to meet that need.  A mini lecture was also delivered on ‘gender budgeting’, a topic of interest to key Component 2 (Fiscal Reform Theme) counterparts, the NDRC and the Budget Affairs Commission. Lively and contentious debate and discussion between gender trainers and officials was a feature of the training courses.

The CAGP Gender Strategy in Practice.  Through its support to the Chinese Government reform process, CAGP has been able to highlight the gender dimensions of policy formulation that may otherwise have been overlooked.  With maternal death rates in the Gansu Province, Western China, on par with those some of the poorest countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, China’s reform process needs to address the critical issue of impact of uneven development on gender equality. National planning has recently commenced on a topic under hot debate:  reform of public service delivery and the role of the different layers of government.  Experience from Australia can highlight the important role played by the non-government and private sectors in the devolution of service delivery and its impact on citizens. 

In order for policy analysis and informed policy reform to be gender sensitive, the collection of sex-disaggregated data is a crucial starting point.  However, this is not widely practiced in China at present and addressing gender inequality is seen as the domain of women’s organisations such as the All China Women’s Federation (ACWF). Thus, a collaborative project on the financial situation of county and township governments between the CAGP, the Fiscal and Financial Affairs Division of the NDRC, and their research agency the Economic Research Institute, provided an excellent opportunity to work closely with China’s key reform body on the importance of gender analysis in fiscal reform.  The surveys cover four provinces and collect and analyse data on revenue sources and expenditure responsibilities of local governments, including items such as education and health.  Results from the surveys will help inform China’s revision to the Fiscal Transfer Payments Law which will potentially have a significant impact on the relative resource allocations among men and women.  A gender advisor has been appointed to review the Institute’s survey methodology, questionnaires and survey results and provide advice as to how data collection and gender analysis can be improved.  

Also under the Fiscal Reform Theme the Budget Affairs Commission of the National Peoples Congress commenced a study on “the long term fiscal impact of social security – a study on social security budgeting in China” in October this year.  Led by the Research Institute of Fiscal Science (RIFS) under the Ministry of Finance, a gender advisor will work closely with the RIFS to help promote the analysis of budgeting and expenditure on social security from a gender perspective - highlighting the low status of women who make up the bulk of the widowed in China with no guarantee of livelihood support, who are the target of lay-offs from state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and who have no rights to land ownership.       

As demonstrated by the above examples, CAGP’s approach is based on the recognition that gender is integral to the very idea of good governance.  Whilst recognising that there are limits to what can be achieved in the context and within the resources available, gender must be considered in all of the program’s activities. 

Fiona Hanrahan

Program Manager and gender focal point

CAGP fiona@cagp-online.org

References

Gender And Development – AusAIDs Commitment, Policy Statement by the Hon Alexander Downer, MP, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, March 1997.

The China Australia Governance Program, Gender Strategy, October 2005

World Bank, China Country Gender Review, East Asia Environment & Social Development Unit, 2002.